Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (Part 1)
The lack of any action has made G.I. Joe too lax, a situation Cobra exploits only to be foiled by Sgt. Slaughter. After this debacle, Dr. Mindbender has dreams of what Cobra needs to be strong again: a new emperor! Detailed summary Featured Characters Featured Vehicles & Equipment Notable quotes Other notes Animation and/or technical glitches *While watching Sgt. Slaughter show up, Flint's exclamation comes out of Leatherneck's mouth. *When Zartan is explaining the "rules" for the Dreadnok audition, a quick pan of the contestants shows that two of them are identical. **It's possible that it's a pair of twins, but more likely than not it was just sloppy animation. Continuity errors *In the real world, the corpses of military leaders are not just laying around unguarded for anyone to just walk up to and take DNA. **At no point do we see any national military forces from the United States, France, Russia, or China. Only the Oktober Guard, a G.I. Joe-like team is present. While G.I. Joe is an international response unit, there should have been some local military units. *Also, attempting to get DNA from centuries-old bones probably wouldn't yield much of anything. *When Zartan starts the Dreadnok audition, he says there is only one rule: whoever is left standing will be the new Dreadnok. Yet when Monkeywrench wins the audition by blowing everyone else up, Zandar accuses him of cheating. So, are there rules or not? **He was likely not expecting anything other than a fistfight. **Monkeywrench comments that the Dreadnoks do not practice "sportsmanship" and is allowed to join. Miscellaneous trivia *Ron Friedman **“The Cobra Strikes” -- M.A.S.S. **“In the Cobra's Pit” -- Weather Dominator **“The Further Adventures of G.I. Joe” -- Pyramid of Darkness **“Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (Part 1)” -- Serpentor **Ron Friedman wrote the scripts for all 4 miniseries and the parallels between the 4 miniseries are unmistakable. There are minor variations. ***The Joe team is running a routine mission, followed by a Cobra sneak attack. ***Duke is captured by Cobra in the first episode of the miniseries. ***There is a Cobra invention that can be used to subjugate the world. ***Joe and Cobra meet at 3 or more separate locations with exotic names to retrieve components. ***The Joes meet a stranger along the way that helps them. ***A Cobra agent double crosses Cobra Commander in the final episode. ***The Joes launch an all-out attack on the Cobra hideout. **Cobra Commander was arrested at the end of the miniseries, yet is now ruling Cobra at the beginning of the episode with no explanation. Destro betrayed Cobra Commander and escaped at the end of the miniseries, yet here he and Cobra Commander are working together like nothing happened. *The Cobra leadership hates Cobra Commander, but decide to create Serpentor instead of promoting an existing leader, such as Destro. Cobra Commander could have easily been replaced earlier in the series. The Cobra leadership hates their leaders, but is unwilling to accept the title of supreme leader. The leadership later turns on Serpentor and rallies to Cobra Commander in "Operation: Dragonfire. In the tv series involving the M.A.S.S., Destro fails to obtain results after he takes command. *Hawk must be ordered to participate in Slaughter's training regime. Cobra Commander frequently shows more leadership as he personally leads many of the Cobra attacks. Hawk's concerns about lax discipline were inspired by his bad example. *The chain-of-command for the G.I Joe team is formally established as Hawk (Grade O-7, Brigadier General) the G.I. Joe Commander, Duke (Grade E-8, Master Sergeant) the team's field commander, with Flint (Grade WO-2, Warrant Officer) as Duke's executive officer and Beach Head (Grade E-6, Staff Sergeant) fourth in command. Sgt. Slaughter (Grade E-7, Sergeant) is also listed as a commanding officer on select missions. **Colonel Sharp, previously the G.I. Joe team's Pentagon liaison and de-facto commander by virtue of rank in Season 1, is not mentioned nor seen at all in Season 2. *Before being requested to stay a bit longer, Sgt. Slaughter mentions having some recruits. Could he have meant Mr. C from "The Wrong Stuff", or perhaps even the Renegades? **According to Buzz Dixon, it was the latter. Real-world references *Vietnam and DNA are mentioned. References Category:Sunbow episodes